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Why the Middle East agrees with President Trump more than America realizes
Americans are debating whether this war was worth it. Thirteen soldiers have come home in caskets. Hundreds more carry wounds. No one takes that lightly. Least of all someone like me — who chose this country and wears its flag by choice, not by birth.
I was born on the Iranian border and raised in the shadow of its wars. I have seen firsthand what these policies do to the people of this region. I still travel across the Middle East — I was in Erbil, Riyadh and Dubai just recently. I know what people say when the cameras are off. It is not anger at America. It is relief.
But here is what the critics are missing. For millions of people across the Middle East, this war did not start on February 28. It started decades ago. What changed is that a president decided to stop managing the problem and start confronting it. The people of the region noticed. I promise you — they noticed.
What most Americans never hear is what those people actually want. Not war. Not jihad. Not martyrdom. Across the Gulf, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, 140 million people are under the age of 30. They want what any young American wants: a job, a stable country and a future that is not hostage to someone else’s ideology. New leaders in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kurdistan and Syria are building toward exactly that. When I sit with young professionals in Erbil or Riyadh or Dubai, they talk about startups. They talk about AI. They talk about opportunity.
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And this is not theory. Look at what happens when stability takes root. The UAE was empty desert 50 years ago. Today it is a global center of commerce where millions of people — including Americans — live, invest and build. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq, encircled by hostile forces, built one of the most open societies in the Middle East. It became the largest safe haven for persecuted Christians in the region. And despite a severe economic embargo by Iran-backed forces, Kurdistan built a stable, multi-billion-dollar economy that houses nearly all U.S. forces in Iraq. People move there because it works. These places are not exceptions. They are previews of what the entire region can become.
What stops it, every time, is the same force. Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen — all taking orders from Tehran, all blocking the future the rest of the region is trying to build. For 45 years, one capital has exported instability to every corner of this region — not because Iranians want it, but because a small circle of men in power profit from it.
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The numbers tell the story. Since February 28, Iran has struck every country in the region that chose partnership with the West — and not one of them fired a shot at Iran. The UAE has absorbed more than 2,800 missiles and drones. Thirteen people were killed. Over 200 were wounded. Kurdistan has been hit more than 700 times. Fourteen dead — including a husband and wife killed at midnight, two daughters left behind. Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar — all struck. None of them threatened Iran. Their only offense is that they chose a different future.
These forces have not only been destroying the Middle East. They have been killing Americans for decades.
Every president before this one chose to look away. They minimized the threat. They told Americans it was under control. They left it for the next generation. But ignoring the Middle East always comes with a price. Obama pulled back from Iraq. ISIS filled the vacuum. His nuclear deal sent billions to Tehran and its proxy terror groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Biden called it strategic patience. That patience gave us October 7. The problem never went away. It always got worse. This president made a different choice.
I grew up in this. I did not study it in a seminar. I know what a missile sounds like when it hits a neighborhood school. I know what families look like when they pack a car at 3 in the morning and drive toward the one city that is still standing. The fear across this region is not that America acted. It is that the world will lose interest before anything changes.
The Middle East is not a burden. It is a region of extraordinary talent, ambition and wealth held back by a violent few who have never been weaker than they are right now.
The people of this region have been asking the world to listen for decades. Perhaps now, it will.
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High-alcohol, ready-to-drink cocktails spark overconsumption concerns for Gen Z drinkers
A wave of sweet, high-alcohol canned cocktails is gaining traction among young drinkers, raising concerns among some experts.
BuzzBallz, a brand of pre-mixed, ready-to-drink alcoholic cocktails created in 2009, has gained renewed attention online in recent years, especially among young adults.
Sold in small, neon-colored round containers, most BuzzBallz drinks are about 200 milliliters of 15% alcohol-by-volume (ABV), containing nearly two standard alcoholic drinks in a single container.
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One viral TikTok video shows a man approaching young adults and asking them to chug a BuzzBallz Biggie in public for $100. The supersized version contains 1.75 liters of 15% ABV alcohol.
The video, which garnered more than 750,000 likes, drew thousands of comments from stunned viewers.
“I’d do this for free,” one person wrote.
“My problem is, I would do this for far less money,” another said.
The sweetness and drinkability of BuzzBallz products play a “significant role” in their popularity, said Cesar Wurm, a Georgia-based hospitality executive and author of “The Powers of Addiction: Finding Freedom in Acceptance and Recovery.”
Wurm told Fox News Digital that higher alcohol content can be masked by flavor — making it harder for people to gauge how much they’re drinking.
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“For a younger or less experienced consumer, that disconnect between taste and potency can increase risk,” he said.
There is also a behavioral component, Wurm said, as members of Gen Z tend to “value experiences, social connection and immediacy.”
Ready-to-drink beverages “fit seamlessly into that with no preparation required, easy to share and highly ‘social media friendly,'” he added.
The bright packaging can also “create a perception that the product is more casual or harmless than it actually is,” Wurm said.
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“From a risk perspective, the combination of high alcohol content, ease of consumption and appealing design can accelerate overconsumption, especially in unstructured environments,” he noted.
“The concern is less about the format itself and more about how accessible and unintimidating it makes higher-alcohol products.”
Wurm, who has been sober for more than a decade, emphasized the importance of “awareness, education and transparency around what’s actually being consumed.”
He added that Gen Z is “one of the most mindful generations when it comes to health and wellness.”
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“We’re seeing a parallel rise in moderation, sobriety-curious behavior and non-alcoholic alternatives, which suggests this is not a one-directional trend, but rather a more complex relationship with alcohol overall,” he said.
Ravi Sawhney, a design expert and founder of RKS Design, said the drinks are “designed experiences.”
“When something looks fun and harmless, we unconsciously assign it less risk, even when the opposite is true,” Sawhney, who is based in California, told Fox News Digital.
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“For Gen Z, who are highly attuned to visual culture and identity signaling, these drinks can feel more like an extension of lifestyle than a substance with consequences. That disconnect between how it feels and what it actually does is where the real risk lies.”
A BuzzBallz spokesperson told Fox News Digital the company’s products are “intended strictly for individuals of legal drinking age.”
“We love that the brand is highly social and associated with fun, but we are also very intentional about our role in promoting responsible consumption,” the spokesperson said.
“We fully support and promote responsible drinking practices and do not encourage illegal, excessive or irresponsible consumption in any way.”
The spokesperson added that BuzzBallz’s marketing is “focused on the social occasion, not the act of consumption itself.”
“By doing so, we ensure BuzzBallz is always portrayed as a fun, colorful, portable accessory made for adult social moments like a beach day, a concert or a party,” the spokesperson added.
The company is based in Carrollton, Texas. In 2024, it was acquired by Sazerac Company, a major global spirits company.
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Kyle Busch drops bombshell about NASCAR during ’23 season: ‘Cheating without cheating’
Kyle Busch has been everywhere this week, and it’s not because he’s once again a NASCAR Cup Series winner. Quite the opposite, in fact!
The two-time Cup Series champ is in the news again because of his inability to win. That’s right. The guy who has won over 60 Cup races, and holds the record for most wins across all three series (233), can’t buy a win lately.
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For those who missed it, Busch and former JGR teammate Denny Hamlin had beef last weekend after Hamlin essentially called Busch a scrub on his podcast. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but he called him out for not having won a Cup race in three years, which was fair.
Busch then went on Sean Hannity’s new podcast and … didn’t hold back. He hit on everything.
Drivers he hated.
Drivers he liked.
How he wanted to “beat guys into the ground.”
You know, the normal stuff you’d expect from Rowdy.
But he didn’t stop there. Busch also talked about his last Cup win, which came in 2023. He won three times that season — his first with RCR — and then things got weird.
“After the third race that we won at Gateway, we got our hands smacked for some of the stuff that we were doing to the race car that NASCAR didn’t like and said ‘don’t bring that back,'” Busch told Hannity.
“It wasn’t anything, like, against the rules. It was just, you always exploit the gray area. So we exploited a gray area and we found something and we had an advantage.”
The entire interview is worth the watch, but that specific part begins at the 1:07:44 mark for those who want to watch it.
This doesn’t look great on paper for NASCAR. Let’s just call it like it is. Not the best look when your future Hall of Fame driver is saying, essentially, that the fellas who make the rules stepped in after you won three races and told you to quit doing certain things to your car.
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But, as Busch notes, it’s what NASCAR has been doing for 70 years now. He’s not the first driver to receive a slap on the wrist, and he won’t be the last.
It’s “cheating without cheating,” Busch added.
“We exploited a gray area and we found something, and we had an advantage,” he continued.
How? Busch didn’t exactly say (smart man!), but he did give fans a glimpse into how teams try to get an advantage. Shockingly, it’s all about making the car faster.
Stunning, I know.
“You want more downforce,” Busch said. “You want to make it lighter. So, you go and you try to figure out ways of making more downforce than everybody else. Getting your car lower to the ground, lower CG, making it go around the corners faster.”
Again, it’s how NASCAR teams have operated for decades now. Since the days of Big Bill France, really. It’s the game within the game.
The problem fans are going to have with this, and I don’t blame them, is NASCAR stepping in after Kyle Busch won three races at the start of 2023, and basically telling them to stop whatever it is they were doing — even if it wasn’t against the rules.
That seems unfair. To me, at least.
It’s also going to make people bring this conversation back to the present day of NASCAR, where Tyler Reddick has won five of the first nine races this season. He’s quite literally putting up prime Dale Earnhardt numbers.
I’ve got news for you — Tyler Reddick ain’t prime Dale Earnhardt.
People will start asking questions. Fans will get suspicious. Frankly, they already are.
And this little bombshell from Kyle Busch won’t help.
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NHL coach narrowly avoids disaster as glass shatters behind bench
Los Angeles Kings head coach D.J. Smith narrowly avoided disaster in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
Raucous Avalanche fans banging on the glass behind Smith caused the pane to shatter after Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood made a stop on Quinton Byfield. Some pieces of glass rained down on Smith. He covered his head and brushed the glass off his suit before running down the tunnel to get checked out.
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Smith was OK and he returned to the game.
“Whoever the guy (was) just kept pushing and pushing and pushing,” he called. “I looked back because it hit me a bunch of times, then it broke.”
The incident delayed the game for about 15 minutes. The score was even at zero when the glass broke. Colorado eventually picked up the 2-1 win in overtime thanks to Nicolas Roy’s game-winner. The Avalanche had a 2-0 series lead.
Avalanche star Gabriel Landeskog said he was “loud” when Wedgewood made the save and admitted that the “fans got a little too excited.”
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“There’s nothing you can do to control it. There’s nothing you can do about it, so you just deal with it,” he said of the delay. “I think maybe the only thing was that there were so many bodies on the ice that it (wore) the ice out a little bit for the rest (of the period).
“I thought the ice crew did a good job and they did their best to fix it as fast as possible. Doesn’t happen every day.”
Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said the delay was a first for him.
“That’s a different one,” Bednar said. “But, I mean, stuff happens. Fans get excited. Our guys were excited, competing hard. There was a bunch of melees on the ice today. It felt like playoff hockey.”
Game 3 is set for Thursday night in Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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